North to Alaska: Anchorage and Homer, AK

We spent some lovely time with Athena and Josh and their three pups:  Leo, Kramer and Chloe and their elusive kitty, Elaine.  They have a fabulous house in Anchorage, very near the ocean and right off the highway to Seward.  It was nice to see them happy and settled in their own house off base.

While Jim had some things checked out on Maxine, ordered the new toilet and purchased new batteries, I had a wonderful day at the Alaska Native Heritage Center.  It is in a beautiful setting where cultural sites representative of six First Nations lie around a lake.  Artists and performers tell their stories and sing their songs in the main hall.

Storyteller

Demonstration home

Another underground home site

Entrance to one of the exhibits

Each site had a native of that culture explaining how the
different first nations live today and in the past.

A native fan dance

Being a "Raven Lunatic", I
loved the sculpture in front of
the building.

 We left during the week for a trip down to the Kenai Peninsula, passing the beautiful Chucach Mountains.

The Kenai lies south of Anchorage and east of the Mainland of Alaska. It is filled with glaciers, gorgeous mountains, rivers and lakes. The Peninsula, "Alaska's Playground" is situated in the famous Pacific Ring of Fire.  There are four beautiful volcanoes in the area, Mount Redoubt, Mount Augustine, Mount Iliamna and Mount Douglas.  Some just spit out steam, but some have had recent eruptions like Redoubt in 2009 and Augustine in 2006.  Tsunami warnings are evident throughout this area.

A highlight of driving down to Homer was passing the Kenai River which was host to a whole lot of fishermen who were there for the annual salmon run.  On the way back we stayed in this area for a few days.

We had an idea of where we wanted to stay when we reached Homer but that RV park, though close to the ocean, had no ocean views and was a typical "parking lot" type place.  So, we went hunting for
another place and found an area right on the water and, although crowded, had great views.  We squeezed into a sight right next to two young girls (Sarah and Haley), whom we later found out were from Boulder!

Maxine on the Homer Spit

 Homer Spit is a narrow 4 1/2 mile strip of land.  Rock walls and a dedicated community keep it safe from winter storms.  Even in the middle of summer, it was very windy and chilly but, thankfully, sunny while we were there.  I expected a much more natural area, but this area is primarily a commercial beach town.  There are many wonderful natural areas available by boat but we stuck to the Spit as we wanted to get back to Athena and Josh on time.  Pacific Eskimo are known to have lived here thousands of years ago.  Since then, Athabaskan Indians, Russian explorers, trappers and traders preceded todays tourists and adventurers.

The colorful marina

The Visitor Center which has incredible views and
displays of what this area has to offer.  It is the largest seabird
refuge in the world!

We took a hike down to the marshes to catch several sandhill cranes foraging
for food.

Another glacier in the distance

All kinds of housing solutions along the marina

More halibut fish and chips!

Many adorable restaurants, storefronts and fishing charter companies
line the beach.

The Hole
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game stocks "The Fishing Hole"
with king and silver salmon, creating a fishing opportunity for locals as well as
tourists.  Hatchery-raised smolt are transferred to pens here allowing the
smolt to imprint in this lagoon.  When they are released, they gradually migrate
into Kachemak Bay and the ocean.  

Jim gave it the old college try, but probably
didn't have the right equipment.

Low tide-amazing how far out it extends
A great place to walk among the tide pools

Sunset
We had a wonderful campfire with the girls next to us
This was very late in the night-we went to bed
at 11:45 and it was still light outside.

Sunrise

Certainly, this will be a place we will come back to.  There is so much more to this area than we could see on this trip.  There are lots of amazing hiking trails aside from the one we walked along the spit.  We would have loved to have gone out for a tour of the wildlife in the bay and alot more time to catch a few of those luscious salmon.  There are local art shows, farmer's markets, festivals to enjoy.  We will be back here in the future.  For now the Kenai River and Seward are beckoning us and we look forward to being back with our kids in Anchorage!